Caught the 10.25 from Eastwood to Central and then changed trains to the Domestic Terminal. I arrived about 2 hours before departure time, and made use of my Lounge Pass. Minestrone soup, salami, salad and fresh bread went down a treat washed down by a lager. Having perused the Sydney Times I headed for gate 33. In the event the flight to Ballina was delayed by about 15 minutes so I got on with reading my Ngiao Marsh.
It was about an hour's flight and we arrived a tad late, however Roddy was there waiting for me. We picked up some milk and bread and then headed to Lennox Head some 9km away. There I met Roddy's wife Christine and his sister-in-law Wilma not to mention the three dogs (Maggie May, Reba - as in McEntire, Brandy) and the cat who's name I have forgotten. I soon became pals with Brandy, who always seems to be delighted to see me!
Roddy has three brothers (one deceased) and seven sisters. He and Christine have two sons Mark and Andrew and a grand daughter and grandson. Roddy served with the Australian Army in Vietnam in the '60s, and is a keen follower of football supporting Leeds United. He played cricket as an opening bat and stated that he modeled himself on Geoff Boycott. I told him I had done likewise but without the attacking shots!
We sat out in the veranda and had a long chat and Roddy told me about his many music friends in Australia, England and America. It turns out he got my e-mail address from John Beecher whom he has known for many years. He showed me his book on Buddy Holly In Australia which I commenced reading, and found it a fascinating tome containing an amazing amount of original research. A regular visitor to Lubbock and Clovis where he befriended Vi Petty and Peggy Sue not to mention Joe Mauldin, Jerry Allison and Jerry Naylor to name but a few, Roddy knows Barry Holley and several others in England, as well as Alan Clark and other collectors in the States, and most of the collectors in Australia. A previous resident of Melbourne and Brisbane, as well as working several years in New Guinea with Westpac Bank, Roddy has been retired for about 15 years and is busy writing and record collecting. He also showed me his illustrated Australian and New Zealand discographies of Buddy Holly which are indeed a work of art. His two favourite artists are Buddy Holly and Del Shannon but Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Waylon Jennings, Patsy Cline, Bobby Darin, Johnny Devlin, Brooks & Dunn, Cliff Richard, Shadows, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire and Barbara Streisand also get a look in.
After dinner we continued chatting and then I adjourned to bed to further peruse the two discographies until my eyes gave out!
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